Hart, Kompany and Mangala are all absent from City's starting line-up Getty Images

Manchester City slipped to a shock 4-1 defeat at the weekend to Tottenham. Whilst a win for Spurs wasn't out of place in this unpredictable season, the manner of the result certainly caught many unaware. So how might have things turned out differently for the early pace-setters?

THE RE-RUN

With Tottenham's formation remaining the same, Sports Interactive simulated the game over again with various Manchester City line-ups and tactics until it produced an alternative result.

In this simulation, Manuel Pellegrini’s side are able to overturn the disappointing real world result with a resilient display against a strong Spurs outfit. Joe Hart proves to be the difference maker for Manuel Pellegrini’s side in this virtual replay of Saturday lunchtime’s clash as England’s number one pulls of a number of fine saves.

Hart comes in for Caballero, who received criticism for his performance on Saturday, and is called into action almost immediately as he turns a speculative effort from Son Heung-Min over the bar. It’s the first save of what turns out to be a busy afternoon for Hart. He makes a total of nine saves over the course of the ninety minutes and gets a match rating of 8.4 – enough to earn him the Man of the Match award. Hart’s finest save comes on the stroke of the hour mark as he denies Harry Kane a would-be equaliser from eight yards out.

City’s back four is also much improved compared to their real-life performance. Demichelis and Otamendi work well together, restricting Tottenham’s chances for long periods of the match. The last twenty minutes see Demichelis tire and the game open up for Spurs. During this spell, Demichelis makes just one successful tackle and Hart makes four of his nine saves. City are also unable to create chances at the other end as Fernando and Fernandinho drop deeper to provide cover for the defence.

Tottenham 4 Manchester City 1

Tottenham 4 Manchester City 1

1/22
Hugo Lloris - 6

Pulled off a number of vital saves that helped keep Spurs in the game early on.

2/22
Kyle Walker - 7

Strong going forward as seen by his involvement in the Dier goal.

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3/22
Ben Davies - 6

Similar performance to Walker.

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4/22
Jan Vertonghen - 6

Did his job at the back and kept Aguero under wraps in the second half.

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5/22
Toby Alderweireld - 7

Solid performance at the back and even bagged himself a goal.

6/22
Eric Dier - 7

Held his own in the middle against an imposing midfield opposition and scored Spurs' equaliser.

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7/22
Delle Alli - 7

Accomplished performance. Vital in keeping City's midfield quiet.

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8/22
Christian Eriksen - 5

Did his bit for the team but failed to really get going.

9/22
Erik Lamela - 8

Man of the match and deservedly so. Scored, assisted, and was an all round threat to City

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10/22
Heung-Min Son - 5

A relatively quiet game but he was nonetheless involved in key stages of the game.

11/22
Harry Kane - 6

Tireless running from the forward and his hard work paid off with a second-half goal and his first of the season.

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12/22
Willy Caballero - 4

A very disappointing performance and conceded a poor goal to Alderweireld.

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13/22
Bacary Sagna - 4

Quiet game for the full back. Part of a larger defensive issue now faced by City.

14/22
Martin Demichelis - 4

Sloppy defending from the Argentine throughout the game.

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15/22

Made a number of costly mistakes at the back, very unconvincing.

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16/22
Aleksander Kolarov -

Easily beaten by Njie for the fourth goal. Linked up well at times with Sterling

17/22
Fernando - 5

Insignificant performance and struggled to get going.

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18/22
Fernandinho - 5

Like his partner, he made very little impact on the game.

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19/22
Raheem Sterling - 4

Threatening on occasion but let down by his lack of finishing.

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20/22
Kevin De Bruyne - 6

A disappointing game that culminated in an early substitution due to injury.

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21/22
Yaya Toure - 3

A disappointing game that culminated in an early substitution due to injury.

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22/22
Sergio Aguero - 6

City's only danger man but his threat waned as the game went on.

Before the last twenty minutes, City are rampant. The attacking midfield trio of De Bruyne, Toure and Sterling cause repeated headaches for the Tottenham defence. Between the three of them they combine to create all four of City’s clear cut chances and De Bruyne notably completes five successful dribbles past Davies. One such dribble leads to City’s opener as the Belgian international cuts past Davies and drills the ball across the penalty area for Aguero to tap in from inside ten yards.

City’s second is another well worked goal. The ball is weaved between Fernandinho, Sterling and Aguero before the Argentine lays it off on the edge of the area for the onrushing Yaya Toure. Toure elects to place the ball and finds the bottom corner with a curled effort.

At 2-0, much of the energy from the game disappears and it appears as though City were going to close out a relatively straightforward victory. That is before Demichelis’ aforementioned fatigue in the latter stages of the match. Harry Kane, who had seen two of his efforts on target saved by Hart, is on hand to punish a Demichelis mistake. When the City centre-back plays a poor pass to Fernando, Kane is on hand to intercept and he dribbles the ball past the desperate Demichelis before finally getting the better of Hart.

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On another day, Spurs may well have grabbed an equaliser but with Joe Hart in inspired form they are forced to concede defeat. They put in a spirited performance against what is arguably the strongest squad in the Premier League but City’s devastating attacking prowess proves to be too much for Mauricio Pochettino’s men.